Gun sight



UUUI UH llVUU 33-24ln UR 290371422 5R pril 14, 1936. C, E LYMAN, JR 2,037,422

GUN SIGHT Filed 001;. 18, 1933 ou. rinunci. I markt. Il I IiUlt'Iilll Ib.

Patented Apr. 14, 1936 UNITED STATES OGGI mi PATENT OFFICE GUN SIGHT Charles E. Lyman, Jr., Middleeld, Conn., as-

signor to The Lyman Gun Sight Corporation, Middleeld, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application October 18, 1933, Serial No. 694,074

7 Claims.

My invention relates to a gun sight and more especially to a front sight having a removable hood. Hooded sights of the character contemplated are generally intended for use on hunting riiies, the purpose of the hood being to protect the sight while the rifle is being carried, the hood being removed before shooting at game so that the bead with which the sight is usually equipped may be exposed to the light. The present invention relates to a hooded front sight in which the hood may be readily removed to expose the sight.

The usual front sight having a removable hood is provided with grooves on two of its opposite sides and the hood is slit longitudinally to form legs which straddle the sight and rest in the grooves. The hood is assembled on and removed from the sight by being slid along the grooves and in order to prevent accidental sliding movement it is the usual practice to drive a pin into the sight the pin having a ball head extending into one of the grooves. The edge of the sight resting in the groove is notched for the ball head the hood being removed by pressure on one of the ends sufficient to force the hood to ride over the pin.

I have found that the usual type of removable hood is subject to accidental movement in spite of the pin provided to hold the hood against such movement. It is quite apparent that, if the holding eiect of the pin may be overcome by iinger pressure on the end of the hood, the normal and intended method of removing the hood, it will not take much of a blow on the hood, through engagement with a branch of a tree or the like, to dislodge the hood and as a matter of fact these hoods often come off while a rifle so equipped is being withdrawn from a gun case.

The principal object of the present invention is to bring about a form of front sight and removable hood therefor in which accidental movement of the hood off the sight is prevented.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hooded sight in which the hood may be removed solely by nger pressure, it being necessary to apply the pressure in a manner unlikely to be simulated by any accidental blow or other action to which the rie or sight may be subjected during their normal use.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view partly 1n section and greatly enlarged of a sight according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view along line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view along line 4 4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a view of the under side of the hood;

Fig. 6 is a view of the under side of the sight with the hood removed; and

Figs. 7 and 8 are views showing the method of removal of the hood.

Referring now to the drawing in which I have illustrated my invention by showing a preferred embodiment of the same, the reference numeral II) indicates, in general, the improved sight which consists, generally speaking, of a sight II and a hood I2. The sight II comprises a blade I3, having at one end a gold or other bead I4, and

meral I5. The base I5 comprises oppositely disposed laterally directed arms I6 and II, dovetail I8, extending transversely across the under side of the base and coextensive in length with arms II and I'I, and oppositely disposed longitudinally directed arms I9 and 20, which join the base I5 between the arms I6 and Il and support the extended ends of blade I3. The dovetail I8 forms a ready means for assembling the sight in the usual slot at the front end of a rifle barrel.

The hood I2 is made of relatively thin resilient material, preferably steel, is generally tubular in form the material of the hood being cut away from end to end along the under or lower side thereof, that is to say, the side next to the base, to form hood edges between which a part of the sight base may be received and gripped. The cutting away of the material of the hood, or other process of forming the same, leaves the hood somewhat C-shape in cross-section from end to end. In the particular instance shown the hood is shaped to provide a longitudinal slot 2I and a laterally directed slot 22, intersecting slot 2I at right angles intermediate the length of the hood, both of these slots being on the under side of the hood or in other words adjacent the sight base. The longitudinal slot 2I in conjunction with slot 22, forms co-operating pairs of legs 23, 24, 25, and 26, which, when the hoo-d is assembled on the base, straddle and grip the base in a manner to be hereinafter described. The transverse slot 22 extends into hood I2 equal distances on either side of slot 2| and is of rectangular cross-sectional shape with iiat side walls and a fiat bottom. In the hood the slot 22 forms fiat side faces 27, 23, 29, and 30, radially directed with respect to the axis of the hood, and flat bottom faces 3l and 32, which are in the same plane parallel to the hood axis.

The laterally directed arms I6 and I'I are provided withV parallel side faces 33, 34, 35, and 36 and horizontal :dat upper faces 3'! and 38. Arms i9 and 23, near their upper edges, are provided with vertical parallel side faces 39, 40, 4I, and 42, immediately below which are inwardly sloping fiat faces 43, 44, 45, and 4B, the arms I9 and 26 being somewhat in the form of a keystone in cross-sectional shape, as shown in Figs. 2, 7, and 8. Preferably the edges of legs 23, 24, 25, and 26 are chamfered or rounded, as shown in these same figures.

When the hood I2 is assembled on the base I3, the arms I6 and I'I are received in the transverse slot 22, while arms I9 and 20 are received in slot 2l. In this position the legs 23, 24, 25, and 26 contact with the sloping faces 43, 44, 45, and 43 of arms IS and 20. Due to the resiliency of the hood, and to the fact that slot 2|, when the hood is removed from the base, is narrower than any portion of arms I9 and 20, the legs 23, 24, 25, and 26 grip the arms I 9 and 20 therebetween and tend to ride down the sloping faces. Downward movement of the legs, and thereby the hood, is limited by faces 3l and 32 of the hood which rest on the flat upper faces 37 and 38 of arms I6 and II. The slot 22 of the hood is of the same width as the distance between faces 33 and 34 of arm I and between faces 35 and 36 of arm I1. When the hood is assembled on the base the faces 2'I, 2S, 29, and 3Il, of the hood, contact with faces 33, 34, 35, and 33, respectively, of arms I6 and I'I. It will be apparent that longitudinal movement of the hood on the base is thus impossible and that a blow on the end of the hood can in no manner dislodge the latter from the base. In addition arms I6 and Il, in conjunction with the vertical faces of the transverse slot, prevent either end of the hood from tilting up, in which respect they are assisted by the gripping action of the legs.

In practice the hood is made stiff enough so that it is impossible to remove it by forcing it upwardly through its length. The hood may be removed however as followsz-Pressure is applied to the underside of the hood at the ends and in the direction indicated by A in Figs. 2 and 7. At the same time the hood is given a rolling motion towards the right, as viewed in these figures. In this manner the legs 23 and 25 are caused to ride up over the sloping faces 43 and 45 and over the vertical faces 33 and 4I into the position shown in Fig. 7. Pressure is then applied to the hood at its ends in the direction B of Fig. '7 and the hood given a rolling motion towards the left whereupon it is raised into the position shown in Fig. 8. In this position the hood may be freely separated from the base. The hood is assembled on the base by reversing the above operation. In other words one side is forced down with a rolling motion and then the other.

While I have shown the invention in connection with a sight having a dovetail base it will be apparent that features thereof may be used in other types of sights and in no manner depends for its operation on the particular method used for attaching the sight to the rifle. Accordingly, while I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to the details shown,

but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A hooded front sight comprising, a sight base, a hood removably mounted thereon, said base having on two of the opposite sides thereof faces which slope downwardly and inwardly towards one another, said hood being slit longitudinally to form a pair of legs between which the base is received, the legs gripping the base on the sloping faces, said hood having a transverse slot in the bottom thereof intersecting the slit and rigid means on the base entering the slot to prevent endwise movement of the hood on the base.

2. A hooded front sight comprising, a sight base, a. hood removably mounted thereon, said base having on two of the opposite sides thereof faces which slope downwardly and inwardly towards one another, said hood being slit longitudinally to form a pair of legs between which the base is received, the legs gripping the base on the sloping faces, said hood having a transverse slot in the bottom thereof intersecting the slit, the slot being of rectangular cross-section, and means on the base entering the slot, said means engaging the hood at the bottom of the slotjohmit downward mowvenjlgnt, piaghe, w139,95I Ndn the base`a1jrdengaggftlhehoodat.the sides of tlislt`t6`prevent endwise movement of the hood on the base.

3. A hoode-d front sight comprising, a. sight base, a hood removably mounted thereon, said base having on two of the opposite sides thereof, faces which slope downwardly and inwardly towards one another, said hood being slit longitudinally to form a pair of legs between which the base is received, the legs gripping the base on the sloping sides, said hood having a transverse slot of rectangular cross-section in the bottom thereof intersecting said slit, and arms on the base extendingtransversely outwardly from the opposite sides thereof said arms being of rectangular crosssection and fitting into and engaging the hood at the sides of the transverse slot.

4. A hooded front sight comprising, a sight base, a hood removably mounted thereon, said base on two of the transversely opposite sides thereof having downwardly and inwardly sloping faces, said hood being slit longitudinally to form a pair of legs coi-operating to grip therebetween the said faces of the base, the ends of the legs contacting with the sloping faces and in coop eration therewith urging the hood downwardly on the base, and co-operating means on the hood and base for limiting downward movement of the hood thereon.

5. A hooded front sight comprising, a sight base, a hood removably mounted thereon, said base having a pair of transversely spaced longitudinally extending sides which through at least a part of their length slope downwardly and inwardly towards one another, said hood being shaped to engage and grip the base on the sloping sides, and co-operating means on the base and hood between the ends of the latter for limitin-gfhmoyementaofthebocdawitmespet to the base to a verticalvdiegdlgnmthe hOod subrzt''tnr'nih thereof on the sloping sides of the base being freely movable in an upward direction at all times against the tension of said gripping action.

6. A hooded front sight comprising, a sight base, a hood removably mounted thereon, a pair of laterally directed arms oppositely disposed on the base, the hood being shaped to engage said arms to prevent endwise movement of the hood on the base while permitting upward movement thereon, and a. pair of longitudinally directed arms on the base, said hood and second pair of arms being shaped to engage to resiliently oppose upward movement of the hood on the base.

'7. In a hooded front sight for a gun, a sight base, a hood removably mounted thereon, said hood having a slot extending transversely of the gun, the slot forming spaced parallel edges in of the gun and extending upwardly into the slot and engaging the edges of the hood to hold the hood against longitudinal movement on the base, said base having longitudinally directed spaced faces which slope downwardly and inwardly towards one another, and said hood being slit longitudinally through the slot to form edges resiliently gripping said downwardly and inwardly sloping faces of the base and by the tension of the gripping action to resiliently oppose upward 10 movement of the hood on the base.

CHARLES E. LYMAN, JR. 

